GRAMMAR

What is Grammar?
Grammar is the structure that makes up a language. It is the foundation and platform upon which
a language is built, providing the structure that allows words to convey meaning. It includes all
of the rules and guidelines that specify how words, phrases and sentences are put together and
used to communicate ideas. Grammar supports the construction of logical and meaningful
communication. It is an effective tool for removing ambiguity (unclearness) and making sure
your message is understood as you want it to be.
Proper grammar helps you structure your sentences logically, making it easier for your readers or
listeners to follow your line of reasoning(thoughts).
PARTS OF SPEECH
Parts of speech, also knowns as word classes are part of the fundamentals of the English
grammar and the language as a whole. A part of speech is the category into which one places a
word depending on how it functions in a sentence. Every word in the English language falls
under a part of speech. When you master the usage of the parts of speech, communication
becomes easier. Note that words in the English language can b classified into different parts of
speech based on the meaning, form and function of the word. This means that every word in a
sentence has distinct function.
Classification of the parts of speech
There are nine categories into which words are classified according to their functions in
sentences. They include: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions,
conjunctions, interjections, and determiners.
These nine parts of speech are further classified into two, that is, the major parts of speech and
the minor parts of speech. The major parts of speech include; nouns, verbs, adjectives, and
adverbs. The major parts of speech are also called open class items or groups. This is because
they are easily extendable, that is, new words can be created out of them. Words that fall in the
category of the major part of speech are also called content words as their impacts are easily felt
in sentences. The minor parts of speech on the other hand, include; pronouns, prepositions,
conjunctions, interjections, and determiners. They are also called the closed class items or
group. They are called the closed class items or group because they are a fixed set of words
which do not admit new words, that is, new words cannot be created out of them. These parts of
speech are also known as function words, grammatical words or structure-class words. This is
because they have little lexical meaning or relationship with other words within a sentence.
NOUNS
Nouns are naming words. A noun is a word that names a person, an animal, a place, a thing, an
idea, a quality, an activity, a substance, a feeling, a state, an event or an institution. Simply put, a
noun is a name. It can be a subject or an object of a verb. It can also be modified by an
adjective, and can take an article or a determiner.

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Identification and characteristics of Nouns
To easily identify a noun, check if the word has any of these four characteristics:

● It occurs in the positions immediately before and immediately after the verb in a
sentence. Examples include;
The boy is good. (the noun boy occurs immediately before the verb is)
We saw Ade with you. (the noun Ade occurs immediately after the verb saw)
● It has a plural ending; -e, -es, -en. Examples include; boys, churches, children

● It also has a possessive form. Examples include; Favour’s book, the student’s bag.

● It is preceded by a “noun-marker” such as; a, an, the. Examples include; a book, the
man, an orange.
Kinds of Nouns

● Proper Nouns

● Common Nouns

● Concrete Nouns

● Abstract Nouns

● Collective Nouns

● Countable Nouns

● Uncountable Nouns

Proper Noun
This is a name given to a particular person, a particular place or a particular thing. The
name usually differentiates the person, place or thing from others of its kind. Proper nouns must
start with capital letters no matter the positions at which they appear in sentences. For example,
the names of the days of the week, months, persons, places, historical documents, institutions
religions and their holy books or texts as well as their adherents (followers), names of cars, and
titles of books are proper nouns.
Persons: James, Emeka, Tega, Peter, Joyce, Mohammed, Tolu, Bola, Ovie, e.t.c.
Places: Warri, Effurun, Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Ibadan, London, Sydney e.t.c.
Cars: Mercedes Benz, Honda, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, e.t.c.
Days of the week: Tuesday, Monday, Wednesday, Sunday, Thursday, Saturday, and Friday.

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Months of the year: August, June, July, January, February, December, e.t.c.
Book titles: Grammar of English, Understanding Mathematics, Modern Biology, Things Fall
Apart, e.t.c.
Religions, their holy books and their adherents: Christianity, Christians, Bible, Islam,
Muslims, Koran, Buddhism, Judaism, et.c.
Institutions: Petroleum Training Institute, University of Ibadan, Zenith Bank, Ministry of
Education, St Patrick’s Cathedral, e.t.c.
Common Nouns
A common noun is a general name given to persons, places or things. It is the name that is
common to creatures or things of the same kind, class or group. Note that common nouns
begin with capital letter only when they begin sentences. Common nouns usually attract the
articles (both definite; the, and indefinite; a and an) before them. Examples include: A car, A
man, An animal, The man, The city, e.t.c.
Concrete Nouns
This kind of noun names anything that can be perceived through the physical sense of
touch, sight and taste, that is, anything that can be touched, seen, or tasted. Concrete nouns
are tangible. Examples include the things seen around us, such as, chair, cup, table, paper,
candle, bottle, stone, chalk, pencil, e.t.c.
Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns refer to intangible things which we cannot see, feel, touch, or taste with our
physical senses. They exist only in our minds and imaginations. Abstract nouns refer to ideas,
qualities, concepts, states and emotions. Examples include: time, fear, humility, beauty,
justice, anger, corruption, Holy Spirit, hunger, love, faith, death, patience, e.t.c.
Collective Nouns
This refers to a singular name representing a group or a collection of similar individuals,
animals or things. Note that you could count the individual embers of the group, but usually
think of the group as a whole or as one unit. Examples include: crowd, army, team, audience,
choir, congregation, class, family, city, e.t.c.
Countable Nouns
Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted. A countable noun can be preceded by the
indefinite articles a or an and can be pluralized. They can also be preceded by numerical words
like one, two, three, e.t.c. Examples include: a book, a cow, an apple, men, children, an
orange, twenty tables, two hands, e.t.c.
Uncountable Nouns

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Uncountable nouns are the direct opposites of countable nouns. They are those nouns that cannot
be preceded by the indefinite articles a or an and cannot be pluralized. Examples include:
money, news, grass, information, advice, rice, oil, water, noise, furniture, fruit, equipment,
e.t.c.

VERBS
A verb is a word used to make a statement about a person, place, animal or thing. It expresses an
action, a state of being or occurrence. It is regarded as a doing word or an action word because
it tells what someone or something does. A thought cannot be expressed without a verb. It is
the only compulsory element for any sentence or statement to complete in sense or in meaning.
Without the verb, a sentence won’t make complete sense.
Examples
The man danced well at the party.
The man well at the party.
In the examples above, the verb danced helps give meaning to the first statement, while the
second one, doesn’t make complete sense since it lacks a verb.
Examples of the English verbs include: take, can, be, speak watch, may, do, dance, listen,
write, happen, have, buy, preach, admit, close e.t.c
Classification of verbs
There are two main categories of verb, namely the finite and non-finite verbs.
The finite verb is further classified into Main Verb (lexical verb) and Auxiliary verb (helping
verb). The main verb is further classified into transitive and intransitive verbs, while the
Auxiliary verb is further classified into primary and modal auxiliary verbs. On the other hand,
non-finite verbs are classified into Gerunds, Participles and To infinitives.
Finite Verbs
A finite verb is a verb that is a verb that has a subject and shows tense.
Examples
John cooks carrot every day.
The finite verb is cooks. The subject is John, the tense of the verb is the present tense.
A finite verb is always one word from which you can determine the tense.

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John was cooking carrots.
The finite verb is was. By looking at was, you can tell the tense of the verb, which is the past
tense. Every sentence needs a finite verb. The main verb in every sentence will be a finite verb.
Examples

● Racheal is happy.

In this example, is, is a finite verb. The subject is Racheal. The tense of the verb is the present
tense.

● He painted the fence.

In this example, painted is a finite verb. The subject is He. The tense of the verb is past tense.
Finite verbs are divided into lexical (main) and auxiliary (helping) verbs.
Lexical verbs (Main Verbs)
This is the verb that carries the meaning in the sentence.

● Ada went home late.

● The lecturer gave us notes on nouns.

● I saw her from a distance.

Lexical verbs are the main verbs of English sentences. They constitute the largest group of verbs
in English. They are called main verbs because they carry the main meaning in the sentence.
Lexical verbs are further classified into transitive and intransitive.
Transitive verbs
A transitive verb is a verb that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects. The
meaning of a transitive verb is not complete without a direct object. A transitive verb therefore is
a verb that expresses an action or activity and must have a direct object; that is, something or
someone who receives the action of the verb.
Examples

● Slyvia kicked Mary under the table.

● He drank wine.

● I like the English language.

Intransitive verbs

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An intransitive verb does not attract a direct object to itself even though it is an action verb. The
action is not transferred to persons or objects.
Examples

● We sleep every day.

● The child cried.

● They ate in the morning.

● Joy smiled shyly.

Auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs. They help the main/lexical verbs in performing their duties.
The main function of auxiliary verbs is to help the main verb form tenses. (present, past, future
tenses). The auxiliary verbs are further divided into two. They are; primary and modal
auxiliaries.

Primary Auxiliary Verbs

The primary auxiliary verbs are the verbs that can function both as main verbs and as auxiliary
verbs. In English, the primary auxiliaries are three: be, have, do.
Forms of Primary Auxiliary Verbs
Base Present Tense Past Tense Past Participle Present
Participle
Be am, is, are Was, were been Being
Do does, do did done Doing
Have has, have had had Having

Note: the most frequently used state of being verb is be. The verb be has eight forms, they are
am, is, are, was, were, be, been and being.
Examples of primary auxiliary verbs functioning as main verbs;

● I am a boy.

● We did the lecture on parts of speech.

● The Tunjis have a garden in their compound.

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Examples of primary auxiliaries as auxiliary verbs;

● We have got a house in the city.

● He was sleeping when you came in.

● I did help you and you should not deny it.

In the sentences above we have the auxiliary verbs have, was, did helping the main verbs got,
sleeping, help.
Modal Auxiliary Verbs
Unlike the primary auxiliaries, the modal auxiliary cannot be used alone. They must be used with
the main verbs. The modal auxiliaries include: shall, will, should, would, can, could, may,
might, dare, dared.
Non-finite verbs
These are verbs that are not affected by person, number and tense. They are verbals, that is,
verb-like forms that do the work of other parts of speech like nouns, adjectives or adverbs. Non-
finite verbs are categorized into gerunds, participles and to- infinitives.
To- infinitives
An infinitive is the basic form of a verb used to indicate need, intention, e.t.c. Examples of
infinitives are to run, to know, to write, to leave, to argue, to study, e.t.c. Therefore,
TO+VERB=INFINITIVE
Examples

● To stand can be enjoyable.

● My people like to travel.

● Militants have the desire to kill.

● The President was ready to resign.

Participles
Participles are verb-like structure words that function as adjectives. We have the present and past
participles.
Present Participles
This participle ends with the suffix -ing associated with verbs in their present continuous form.
Examples

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 ● Newman ate the decaying apple.

● Adebanjo is our visiting lecturer.

● The girls waiting at the door are my cousins.

In the above sentences, the words decaying, visiting and waiting are present participles of
qualifying the nouns apple, lecturer and girls respectfully.
Past Participle
The past participle of regular verbs are formed by the addition of the past tense marker ‘ed’
while that of irregular verbs can take various forms like change of spelling of addition of ‘en’.
Examples

● Children should beware of broken bottles.

● Our defeated team returned home yesterday.

● The good days are gone.

In the sentences above, the words broken, defeated and gone are past participles qualifying the
nouns bottles, team and days respectfully.
Gerunds
Gerunds are verb forms ending in ing but functioning as nouns. In other words, they are verbal
nouns.
Examples

● Reading is my hobby.

● My family enjoys swimming on weekends.

● Seeing is believing.

● Their jobs consist of typing and filing all documents.

Note that gerunds perform all the functions of nouns.

ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a word that describes, qualifies or modifies a noun or a pronoun. Examples of
adjectives include; good, fair, intelligent, stupid, handsome, expensive, beautiful, big, noble,
kind, gracious e.t.c.
Kinds of Adjectives

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Descriptive Adjectives- these are used to describe nouns.
Examples

● Mary has a beautiful doll.

● Tega owns a big shop.

Possessive Adjectives
These adjectives show possession.
Examples

● That is our house

● I am his friend.

Demonstrative Adjectives
These adjectives show the person or thing that is being spoken about.
Examples

● These are my people.

● That bird flies high.

● These students are here.

Interrogative Adjectives
These are adjectives which are used in asking questions.
Examples

● Which dress are you going to put on?

● What attitude is she trying to put up?

● On whose side are you going to be?

Emphatic Adjectives
These adjectives are used for emphasis.
Examples

● Here comes her own daughter.

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 ● He wants that very car.

Adjectives of quality
These adjectives express character, quality or state of the person or thing being addressed.
Examples

● Chidi is a strong boy.

● They live in a dirty environment.

● My car is white.

Adjectives of quantity
This shows how much of a thing is meant.
Examples

● Several graduates have relocated.

● They had enough time to study.

● Much water has been wasted.

● We have got some materials for the assignment.

Numerical Adjectives
These include both cardinal and ordinal numbers that indicate how many or in what order a thing
is.
Examples

● I took the first position.

● We need six men for the job.

● Twenty lecturers are in my department.

● One cup of rice is enough.

● About five houses were burgled last night.

Distributive adjectives
These denote (show) a person or thing separately.

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Examples

● Each student has received a prize.

● Every game has rules.

● Either James or Jane won the competition.

● Neither the student nor the lecturer has arrived.

ADVERBS
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. We can go further to say that an adverb is a
part of speech that describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, clause or sentence.
Adverbs answer the questions: How? When? Where? Why? In what way? How much? How
often? Under what condition? To what degree?
Most adverbs end in -ly and they are formed by adding the -ly to adjectives. However, many
words and phrases not ending in -ly serve an adverbial function (act as adverbs) and an -ly
ending is not a guarantee that a word is an adverb. For instance, the words lonely, friendly,
lovely, fatherly and neighbourly which end in -ly are not adverbs but are adjectives as in;
The lovely woman lives in a friendly neighbourhood.
Kinds of Adverbs
Adverbs of manner
Adverbs of manner tell us the way in which something happens. They answer the question How?
and mainly modify verbs.
Examples

● The teacher acted violently in the staff room.

● He speaks slowly.

● Amara speaks English fluently.

● Ovie drives his car fast.

Adverbs of place

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Adverbs of place tell us the place where something happens. They answer the question Where?,
that is. They say something about the location or direction of an action. Examples include: here,
there, home, upstairs, indoors, everywhere, above, below, anywhere, outdoors e.t.c.

● Please, stay there.

● She went indoors.

● The students are here.

● The priest goes everywhere.

Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of time indicate the time of an action, adding to our knowledge of when the action takes
place. They ask the question When? Examples are today, yesterday, since, now, late, early,
ago, tomorrow, soon, presently, e.t.c.

● They arrived yesterday.

● She will be there presently.

● The principal wants to see us now.

● We were friends then.

Adverbs of frequency
These are adverbs of time that tell us how often something happens. They answer the question
How frequently? or How often? We have definite and indefinite frequency.
Definite frequency: daily, weekly, yearly, monthly, annually, biannually e.t.c, as shown in the
following:

● We go to the library daily.

● The women meet annually.

● The production of the magazine is biannually.

Indefinite frequency: often, sometimes, regularly, seldom, always, usually, rarely,

occasionally, repeatedly, e.t.c.

● Ada seldom goes to the studies.

● Joy usually goes to the canteen.

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 ● I rarely put on eye-glasses.

● Our teacher has repeatedly told us to desist from bad manners.

Adverbs of Degree
These adverbs tell us the extent or degree to which something happens. They answer the
questions How much? or To what extent/degree? They include: quite, very, nearly, almost,
too, much, partly, entirely, poorly, rather, e.t.c.
Examples

● Uche is partly right.

● The apple is almost spoilt.

● I am rather busy.

● Adamu talks too much.

● The staff and students are very grateful.

● Peter entirely agrees with her.

Pronouns
A pronoun is a place holder for a noun. It is a word used in place of a noun. It replaces the noun
in sentences. It is used to avoid unnecessary repetition of names in the sentence. A pronoun
always has an antecedent. An antecedent is a noun or a noun equivalent which the pronoun
stands for.
Kinds of Pronouns

● Personal pronoun

● Possessive pronoun

● Demonstrative pronon

● Numerical pronoun

● Emphatic/ Intensive pronoun

● Reflective pronoun

● Reciprocal pronoun

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 ● Relative pronoun

● Interrogative pronoun

● Indefinite pronoun

Personal pronouns
These are pronouns that refer to persons. We have three grammatical persons in English. They
are:
a. First person- the person speaking. The pronouns in the first person are:
Singular--------------I
Plural-----------------we
b. Second person- the person being spoke to. The pronouns in the second person are:
Singular-------------you
Plural----------------you
c. Third person- the person being spoken about. The third person pronouns are:
Singular---------he, she, it
Plural------------they
Possessive pronouns
These are pronouns that show ownership or possession. They are:
a. First person: Singular----mine
Plural-------ours
b. Second person: Singular----yours
Plural-------yours
c. Third person: Singular-----his, hers, its
Plural--------theirs
Demonstrative pronouns
These are pronouns that point out a person or thing specifically. They are:
Singular………………this, that
Plural ………………..these, those
Numerical Pronouns
These cite a number, either a cardinal number (one, two, three, four….) or an ordinal number
(first, second, third,….). They are pronouns when they take the place of a noun, and are
adjectives when they qualify nouns. See the following examples:

● I need two. (pronoun)

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 ● The first man will take it. (adjective)

● The first will take the prize. (pronoun)

● Six bottles are kept inside the bag. (adjective)

Emphatic/ Intensive pronouns

These are pronouns used for emphasis.
Examples

● We ourselves will not go.

● She herself did it.

● I myself will like to eat.

● You yourself should be serious.

Reflexive pronouns
These are pronouns used as objects referring to subject. They show that both refer to the same
person or thing.
Examples

● He blamed himself.

● We gave ourselves assignments.

● I hurt myself.

● The horse directed itself to the stream.

Reciprocal pronouns
These pronouns represent two persons interchanging the action of the verb. Reciprocal pronouns
are: each other and one another.
Examples

● Emeka and Amaka love each other.

● They fought one another yesterday.

Relative pronouns

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These pronouns connect a dependent clause to a noun clause. They perform the function of
pronouns and conjunctions together. They include that, which, who, whose and whom. They are
always preceded by antecedents ( the nouns or pronouns that comes before them).
Examples

● The poor boy who is lazy likes playing.

● The woman whose car was lost is dead.

● Here is the girl whom I mention earlier.

● That is the house that John built.

● The food that she cooked was delicious.

Interrogative pronouns
These are pronouns used to ask questions. The interrogative pronouns are: who, what, which,
whose. Who functions as subjects while whom functions as objects. Both who and whom can
be used in the singular or plural form.
Examples

● What did you buy for me?

● For whom did you buy the dictionary?

● Who took my pencil from the box?

● Whose is this house?

● Which of the three dogs bit him?

Indefinite pronouns
These pronouns refer to persons, places, things or ideas in a general way. They have no definite
reference. That is, they do not specify the person or thing they refer to. Thet include: all, some,
every, somebody, any, others, everyone, someone, anyone, nobody, everybody, something,
anybody, nothing, everything, several, anything, none, few, many, e.t.c. Note: all indefinite
pronouns must agree with their corresponding antecedents.
Examples

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 ● All of my siblings have travelled.

● Everyone is here to see the manager.

● Some of the students passed, others failed.

● Many are called but few are chosen.

● Most of the oranges are bad.

● Everything is alright.

● Nobody can help himself in such a situation.

● They ate everything in the pot.

● Anyone can answer the question.

PREPOSITION
A preposition is a word that shows relationship of a noun or a pronoun to another word in a
sentence. It governs a noun or a pronoun in the objective case. A preposition is a word that is
placed before a noun or pronoun with any other word in the sentence. Consider the following
examples:

● The boy is under the staircase.

● The book is on the table.

● The coin fell into the river.

● The pupils are beside the tree.

● I shall stand behind you.

In the above sentences, the prepositions under, on, into, beside and behind are placed before
the nouns staircase and the dog, river, tree and the pronoun you, to show the relationship
between the staircase and the dog, the desk and the book, the river and the coin, the tree and
the pupils, you and I.
The commonest prepositions we have in English include: at, on, in, by, into, to, under, above,
below, inside, along, of, between, before, from, for, with, within, outside, behind, beneath,
until, after, about, around, as, aside, till, without, near, off, onto, against, out, through,
throughout, over, towards, despite, beyond, since, underneath, during.
Note: the prepositions listed above and single-word or simple prepositions. However, there are
other prepositions that consist of more than a word. They are referred to as compound

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prepositions. They include out of, next to, as far as, in spite of, in order that , instead of,
according to, in front of, away from, on account of, in accordance with, in comparison with,
as well as, together with, for the sake of, by way of, by means of, in respect to, with a view
to, with reference to.
Kinds of preposition
Time prepositions- the preposition used in expressing time in English include: at, by, in, on,
after, before, during, from, till, until, within, throughout.
Examples

● The coach came here at night.

● We visited them after 5 o’clock.

● The players did not train during the rainy season.

● He goes to the gym on Sundays.

● Olu was born in 2004.

● The building was constructed within four months.

Place/Locator prepositions
Some place prepositions are: at, on, of, in, about, across, against, among, before, behind,
below, between, by, down, inside, near, under, upon, with, within.
Examples

● The key is at the window.

● Go and remove the broom that is lying across the part.

● The children are inside the room.

● The dog stays within the compound.

● Nobody sleeps under the mango tree.

● I hid the stick behind the door.

Direction preposition
These go with verbs of motion. They indicate the direction of movement. These include: at,
across, over, into, away, down, to, towards, up, from, off, of, out of, round, along, onto,
past, through.

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Examples

● Victor climbed up the hill.

● The district head is walking down the street.

● That bird flew over his head.

● The hunters an across the field.

Agency preposition
Different prepositions are used by different devices, agents, instruments or machines. Some of
such prepositions are : by, with, through, at, from.
Examples

● The thief was killed with a gun.

● The chief was buried by the villagers.

● She comes by bus daily.

● I got the message through a friend.

● He learned the anthem by heart.

Manner prepositions
These prepositions are used to express manner. They include: by, with, from, in.
Examples

● I accept your invitation with pleasure.

● He speaks in a low voice.

● The terrorist was killed by force.

Purpose/Reason preposition
They are: for, to, from.
Examples

● The Americans are fighting for peace.

● He died for the sake of love.

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 ● You must read to learn.

● The man died from fatigue.

CONJUNCTIONS
A Conjunction is a word used to join or connect one word, phrase or clause to another.
Kinds of Conjunctions
Co-ordinating conjunctions also called coordinators are conjunctions that join two or more
words, phrases or clauses that are of equal rank. The common coordinators we have in English
common coordinators we have in English are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.
Examples

● Beans and plantain are my is my favourite food. (two words beans and plantain are
joined by and)
● The man and his wife came here. (and joins two phrases)

● They gamble and they smoke. (and join two main clauses)

● They go to church, yet they do not pray. (yet joins two main clauses)

● The man who burnt his house and the thief who stole the car have been arrested. (and
joins two dependent clauses)
● The tailor is poor but he is honest. (but joins two main clauses)

● The tenant did not have a job, so he could not pay his rent. (so, joins two main clauses)

Subordinating conjunctions- these conjunctions connect subordinate or dependent clause to

main clauses. In fact they introduce dependent clauses. They include: after, although, as,
because, before, how, if, once, since, that, then, though, till, until, when, where, whether,
while, unless, so that, in order that, as far as.
Examples

● I saw the mad man when I got to the stadium.

● You must be punished because you are disobedient.

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 ● They found the man where he was sleeping.

● While the children watched, the birds flew away.

● Although it rained heavily, we went to the market.

● All will be lost, unless we act now.

Correlative conjunctions- these are conjunctions that go in pairs. They include: both….and,
whether…or, either…or, not…but, neither…nor, as….as, not only…but also, just as…so.
Examples

● Both Indians and Americans are friends.

● Either Theresa or David will be going to the farm.

● Whether you like me or you hate me, I shall marry your sister.

● The principal not only suspended the disobedient prefect but also expelled them.

● The king is not stupid but wicked.

● I shall neither sell my car nor buy a new one.

INTERJECTIONS
An Interjection as the name implies is exclamatory in nature. It can be a word or phrase and can
either stand on its own or appear in a sentence. Interjections are used to express surprise, pain,
shock, happiness, excitement, and they are usually followed by exclamatory marks. (!)
Examples

● Oh my God! It is about to rain.

● That slap hurts!

● Oops! You look great in that dress.

● Ouch! I have hit my toe on a stone.

DETERMINERS
Determiners belong to the closed class items/groups. They are used to introduce nouns in
English. Determiners precede nouns. They can also occur with modifiers for instance, adjectives,
to form noun phrases.
There are five main determiners in English language.

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Articles- these can be definite (the) or indefinite (a, an). The specifies something particular,
while a, an do not indicate particularity.
Examples

● The dog barked at us when we got to the gate of the house. (here, there is a particular or
definite dog, gate, and house)
● A dog is parking in an uncompleted building. (here, no definite reference to any dog or
uncompleted building)
Possessive Determiners- these are used to suggest ownership of noun. There are seven forms:
my, yours, his, her, its, our, and their.
Examples

● This is my book.

● These are our suitcases for the trip.

● I have not really understood their motives.

Demonstrative determiners- demonstrative determiners express a contrast, establishing either a

close or a more distant relationship. They point out the nouns they modify.
Examples

● This week is going slowly.

● The show assistant said that she wanted these things kept aside for her.

Quantifiers Determiners: these types of determiners convey a range of meaning. They indicate
the quantity of nouns following them. The most common ones are: all, some, any and no, every,
each, either, one and another, both, several and enough, many, more, most, few, little, fewer,
less, fewest and least.
Examples

● Some grasp would be nice.

● Several children.

● Every adult must take some responsible.

● Does anyone care for more food?

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Numerals Determiners- if numbers precede nouns, they function as determiners. Both cardinals
(one, two, three etc) and ordinals (first, second, third, etc) can be used determiners.
Examples

● The first visitor will receive a present.

● Six sheep have escaped from the farm.

● Seven state governors attended the function.

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